Aprendizaje cooperativo, aprendizaje percibido y rendimiento académico en la enseñanza del marketing

Abstract

Spanish universities are incorporating cooperative learning into the capabilities to be achieved by their students. It therefore becomes necessary to take a detailed look at what is meant by cooperative learning, as well as its antecedents and its outcomes. The main aim of this work is to study the relationships between cooperative learning and two of its outcomes, namely student perception of learning (or the subjective learning outcome) and student academic achievement (or the objective learning outcome). In order to achieve our aim, first the concept of cooperative learning is operationalised in four dimensions: interactivity with peers, interactivity with the teacher, commitment and active learning. Second, the concept of subjective learning is operationalised on the basis of student perceptions of the achievements they have attained after carrying out a cooperative learning activity: Team- Games-Tournaments. Finally, an analysis is performed to see how subjective learning mediates in the relationship between cooperative learning and objective outcome. The framework of analysis consists in an activity carried out on a sample of 319 cases, within a subject called Foundations of Marketing, which is taught as part of the degrees in Economics, Business Administration, and Finance and Accounting at a public university in Spain. The methodology applied involves the use of structural equation models. This research makes three main contributions to the literature. Firstly, it measures the multivariable concept of cooperative learning. Secondly, it manages to nest two databases, one with data concerning the student perceptions and the other with objective data about academic achievement, which has in turn enabled us, thirdly, to find evidence of the direct positive influence of cooperative learning on the student subjective learning outcome and the indirect influence on the objective outcome or achievement attained by the student.